Tuesday, January 28, 2014

As announced last year, Silva Screen are releasing an incredible limited edition Doctor Who
soundtrack boxset featuring eleven discs of music spanning every era of
The Doctor. This magnificent collection, due for release very soon,
comes presented in its very own TARDIS boxset and is a must for any fan
of Doctor Who music through the years. Also included in the set are notes from classic Who composer Mark Ayres and notes from various composers through the years.

In this EXCLUSIVE series for Blogtor Who, Silva Screen
are releasing these fascinating notes ahead of the boxset's release.
Today sees Part TEN which includes notes from composer Keff McCulloch and Mark Ayres (which are abridged and will continue through
this series). Also included are the front and back covers for The Tenth
Doctor disc included in the boxset (click on them for bigger versions.
Many thanks to Silva Screen, visit their site HERE.

COMPOSER NOTES - KEFF MCCULLOCH

I loved my time working on the music for Doctor Who.

I met up with John Nathan-Turner in Brighton whilst my wife at the time was doing a Pantomime he was producing. He suggested I create a new version of the main theme as there was to be a new Doctor and, when he liked what I did, he suggested I put together the incidental music for Time and the Rani. That then developed into seven additional stories.

It came at a very busy time in my life as I was working as a recording engineer during the day and a Doctor Who composer through the night. Saying that, and whether you liked my music or not, I poured my heart and soul into the incidentals and though I was obviously influenced by the technology available and the music styles of that particular time, I still feel happy with the music I produced for the show. I have been accused of using “plinky-plonky sounds”, “too many drum machines” and turning Doctor Who into “a futuristic disco” but I only did what I felt was right for the feel of the episode and particular story I was working on.

If I had to name favourites, I would say they were Time and the Rani and Remembrance of the Daleks, though Delta and the Bannermen was probably the most fun to work on as it was all about re-creating the music of the 1950’s, more along the lines of the commercial state-of-mind I had at the time. That and the fact I appeared in the show itself after a fun few days filming on Barry Island in Wales.

I remember with great fondness my time meeting with the different directors at BBC Maida Vale Studios. My father was a Senior Studio Manager there for many years and many of the people working at Maida Vale remembered him well and told me illuminating stories of his time there. Working with the illustrious Dick Mills and Scott Talbott, the BBC dubbing engineer, was pure delight too!

I am thrilled to have become part of the Doctor Who ‘family’ and have always found Who fans the most knowledgeable on their subject. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their support and respect, regardless of their thoughts on my music, and the great humour with which they review my work! I would also like to thank the late John Nathan-Turner, the wonderful cast members, production crew and the other composers for their friendship. A special mention, too, to Michelle De Vries, my tape op at the time who stayed up all night and day with me, making coffee and helping with the task at hand!

Having left the music industry, becoming a web/graphic designer and moving to Australia in 2001, I am now semi-retired but back working as a musician doing clubs, weddings, aged care homes, parties and corporate events. Music has always been my life and my late father always told me I had been given a wonderful gift and that it was my duty to share it wherever and whenever possible. I am still so lucky to be able to do just that.

Abridged album notes from Mark Ayres [Part 10]
From the second year of the New Series, with a new Doctor in the TARDIS in the form of David Tennant, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales - teamed with orchestrator/conductor Ben Foster - joined the crew: the music is now almost entirely, genuinely and full-bloodedly orchestral. The theme music has also evolved in the past 8 years - from heavy use of Delia Derbyshire’s original tracks plus overlaid sampled orchestral elements, to now when the orchestral take-over is almost complete.